Foreign nations scramble to evacuate citizens from Sudan as fighting continues

Sudan’s army said on Saturday it had agreed to help evacuate foreign nationals amid sporadic gunfire and airstrikes in Khartoum despite promises by the warring parties for a three-day ceasefire after a week-long conflict that has killed hundreds.

The statement was made by army chief Abdel Fatteh al-Burhan after a promise from rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, to open several airports for evacuations.

Burhan “agreed to provide the necessary assistance to secure the evacuation of the various countries,” the military said.

Questions have swirled about how the mass rescue of foreign nationals will unfold, with Sudan’s main international airport closed and millions of people stranded indoors. As fighting between the Sudanese army led by Burhan and the RSF rages in and around Khartoum, including in residential areas, foreign countries have struggled to repatriate their citizens – some of whom lack food and basic supplies as they hunker down.

The sound of fighting continued overnight but appeared to be less intense on Saturday morning than the previous day, a Reuters reporter in Khartoum said. Live broadcasts by regional news channels showed billowing smoke and explosions.

The army and the paramilitary RSF, which has been waging a deadly power struggle across the country, both issued statements saying they would establish a three-day ceasefire starting Friday for the Islamic Eid holiday.

Sudan’s sudden collapse into war has derailed plans to restore civilian rule, bringing the already impoverished country to the brink of a humanitarian disaster and threatening a wider conflict that could draw in outside powers.

There is no sign yet that either side can secure a quick victory or is ready to back down and talk. The army has air power but the RSF is heavily embedded in urban areas including around key facilities in central Khartoum.

Burhan and Hemedti have held the top two positions on the governing council overseeing the political transition after the 2021 coup that is intended to include a move to civilian rule and the incorporation of the RSF into the army.

The World Health Organization reported on Friday that 413 people have been killed and 3,551 injured since the fighting broke out. The death toll includes at least five aid workers in a country dependent on food aid.

Diplomats to be evacuated ‘in the coming hours’

International efforts to end the violence have focused on a ceasefire, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for respect for the ceasefire.

The US and several other countries have prepared efforts to evacuate their citizens. The army said the United States, Britain, France and China would evacuate diplomats and other nationals from Khartoum “in the next few hours.”

In a statement Friday night, Canada’s foreign affairs and national defense ministers said they were “actively monitoring the situation in Sudan.”

“In response to recent developments, Canada has sent members of Canada’s Global Affairs Rapid Deployment Team (SRDT) to Djibouti to increase our ability to support and better assess needs on the ground,” Mélanie Joly and Anita Anand said in the joint statement. statement.

The Canadian Embassy in Khartoum has suspended private operations. Canadians in need of emergency assistance are advised to call Global Affairs Canada’s emergency response center.

The Saudi Arabian embassy has been evacuated by land to Port Sudan and a flight from there and Jordan will follow suit, the army added.

The Pentagon said earlier this week it would move additional troops and equipment to a Navy base in the small Gulf of Aden nation of Djibouti to prepare for the evacuation of US Embassy personnel. But the White House said Friday it had no plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of the roughly 16,000 Americans trapped in Sudan.

RSF chief Hemedti said on Facebook early Saturday that he had received a call from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in which he “stressed the need to observe a complete ceasefire and provide protection for humanitarian and medical workers.”

RSF said it was prepared to open all airports to allow evacuations. However, Khartoum’s international airport has been caught up in the fighting and the status of other airports or the RSF’s control over them is unclear.

Burhan told the Saudi-owned Al-Hadath TV station on Saturday that Khartoum airport would not handle evacuations because of the ongoing fighting. He claimed that the military had taken control of all other airports in the country, except for one in the southwestern city of Nyala.

“We share the concerns of the international community about foreign nationals,” he said. “The living conditions are deteriorating.”

The hospital was hit

In Omdurman, one of Khartoum’s sister cities, there are fears for the fate of prisoners in al-Huda prison, the largest in Sudan.

The army on Friday accused the RSF of raiding the prison, which paramilitary forces denied. Lawyers for prisoners there say an armed group forcibly escaped from the prison, and the prisoners are unknown.

Sudan’s doctors’ union said early Saturday that more than two-thirds of hospitals in the conflict zone were unusable, with 32 forcibly evacuated by soldiers or caught in the crossfire.

The few remaining hospitals, which do not have adequate water, staff and electricity, offer only first aid. People are posting urgent requests on social media for medical assistance, transport to hospitals and prescription drugs.

Any let-up in the fighting on Saturday could accelerate the desperate rush by many residents of Khartoum to flee the war, after spending days trapped in their homes or local districts under bombardment and with fighters roaming the streets.

Sudan borders seven countries and is located between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and the volatile Sahel region of Africa. Hostilities could lead to regional tensions.

The violence was sparked by disagreements over an internationally-backed plan to form a new civilian government four years after the fall of autocrat Omar al-Bashir and two years after a military coup.

Both accuse the other of interfering with the transition.